Purpose Driven Life
by Alchemic-Wrath
Summary: Wrath, now motherless and alone must seek to find his own purpose. Rated T just in case.
1. Confused and Alone

Some Notes: If you came here thinking I owned FMA, then you've got problems, cause sadly I don't, if I did, that movie wouldn't have happened… or a lot of things would have been different (though not necessarily the Wrath thing, more what happened to some of the other people). So, the story takes place about a year and three quarters before the movie, a little after the last episode of the series.

With that in mind, it would stand to reason that this will contain spoilers, so if you don't like them, then stop reading.

Wrath walked along the grass, always making sure he stayed away from any human made trails. He had no desire to be anywhere near any of them, his experiences with them had rarely ended well. He was no longer sure what he thought about them, it almost hurt to think even about it. Everything had gotten so complicated. It was so much easier when mommy and Dante had been around, they could make the world make sense, he hadn't needed to understand things for himself back then because they did it for him.

If that didn't confuse things enough, everything he had thought he learned seemed to all be wrong or not add up with something else he had known. Now that he was alone, he had thought about when he killed Lust, had she really just wanted to be human so she could die? Was that really all there was to it? He had managed to still have a mother even as a homunculus after all, so family couldn't be unique to humans, nor could the love one has toward them, because he had loved his mom more then anything. So, if he had all the emotions humans had, the form of a human and he could even perform alchemy, then what made him different?

It was all so confusing. Was it really a soul that made all the difference? Was that really so special that it would deny him the ability to be like everyone else? If so, then the world really was a cold place, just like the others used to say. Ahead, the small boy heard some talking, a lot of it. He quietly approached the area, only to see tents and such spread around, some larger, open tents and some smaller, private tents. Kids were playing some different games inside the larger ones while the adults sat around in portable chairs spread throughout the grassy layout.

He looked at them and then at himself. As he already knew, there was no more difference in the way he looked to how they looked when you compared them all to each other, aside from his metallic arm and leg. So it had to be something as elusive as a soul to be the reason he could never be a human, nothing else could explain the cruelty of it all. Being away from everyone, or perhaps not having any red stones for a long time, had made him a little more thoughtful and he had figured out a while ago he could never make a Philosopher's Stone on his own, he didn't even know how to begin. In fact, he actually hadn't even tried to perform alchemy now that he no longer had Ed's limbs, maybe it wasn't even possible.

It seemed like the little guy's mind could no longer take it, in a rage, he ran. Instead of stopping he simply touched his left hand onto a tree, using his "natural" homunculus abilities to cause it to crash. He hadn't cared what he hurt at that point, he had just wanted to hurt something and he had. He sighed; he really had no idea what he was going to do anymore. Alls he knew was that somehow, he no longer hated the Elrics, he no longer even hated Izumi and he didn't want to see if Dante or any of the other Homunculi had made it. He was on his own, with no driving force to guide him. Then, he had one more idea, the other homunculi had pulled the strings without anyone knowing, maybe he could do something like that. He set off to search for a goal and after he had one of those, he could spend his time making other people accomplish it, just like Envy and mommy used to do. It actually seemed pretty simple and he was determined to make it happen.


	2. Accidental Savior

Wrath had been going in the same direction for a while. He had figured that if you went one way far enough, you'd eventually make it to a city or at least one of those signs that told you which direction a city was. Sadly, neither had appeared during his long trek and it was starting to get to him. Wrath wasn't even exactly sure what kind of goal he was looking for, but people liked to talk he figured that if he just listened, someone might give him an idea.

The young homunculi looked around the area he was in, but there was still no buildings to be seen, the idea was starting to just seem dumb and he was past tired of it. But, it wasn't like he had anything else he could do, he was determined not to just whither away in the woods. Then, the worst sound in the world came to his attention, there was no mistaking it, a baby was crying. In desperation, Wrath tried to cover his ears, but it was in vain, he could still hear the shrieking of that kid. It was like his blood was boiling.

Wrath sprinted toward the noise, he needed to stop any way possible. As he got closer, naturally the sound got louder and louder and it seemed like it would never end. He finally saw what was going on, but he didn't really care for the details, he just wanted it to end, now. A gang of men were punching around a group of small kids and the baby was sitting alone in the grass, nothing it could do but make its own call for help.

"Make it stop make it stop!" Wrath yelled as he started going toward the baby, ignoring the others. Before he could get there, the muggers got in his way. He stopped, looking up at them. He couldn't focus as long as that noise was still going on, he needed to get past them and he would.

"Hey guys, looks like we got ourselves another person who wants to join in on the fun and to top it off, he's a cripple," the man said, pointing at Wrath's leg and arm, "lets show him what happens to those who so rudely interrupt our games," he said as he cracked his knuckles and smirked.

"Make the noise stop, now," Wrath said in a malicious tone. In response, they simply laughed.

"Oh that's rich, your telling us what to do? Sorry kid, I was debating letting you go, but now we're really gonna have to make an example out of you," They started to move toward him, the closest one charging almost blindly. Wrath jumped over him, hitting him in the back of the head with his automail leg. The next one sent a jab right at his face, but his supernatural reflexes allowed him to get his other metal appendage up to block the strike.

The ground glowed for a second as his organic leg absorbed some of it. He stuck his left arm up and extended its new rocky form straight into the attacker's chest. Two down and two to go. Wrath let the stone dissipate and fall to the floor. He took the first offensive this time, making contact with one of their noses, and then swiftly elbowing the last one. They must have been too used to picking on kids to take on a real fight and this was one they couldn't have won even if that had seen it coming.

Now that he had no further distractions, he could finally make that damn baby stop crying. He walked over to where he had seen it before, a girl now had it in her arms. She looked up at him, Wrath figured she was too hurt to run from even a monster like him. "Make it stop, or I will," he warned. He didn't know how much more he could take. She rocked it for a second and it did calm down, it was already tired for crying as long as it did.

"Thank you for saving us, are you can alchemist?" she asked. Wrath didn't understand, first off, he had rarely been thanked during his existence for anything and this time. Second, he hadn't been doing anything for her at all and to bring it all together into one confusing pile, it was the first time a human had seen his powers and been… grateful. The other children were now closer, all staring at him… like he was some sort of hero, like he was… good.

Wrath did the first thing that came to his mind, he ran. He didn't know how to respond so his only choice was to leave so he didn't have to. He still had no idea what he was going to do and now he had yet another unsettling thing on his mind. He had saved the lives of a bunch of humans he didn't even know, he didn't mean to, but now he had and he couldn't handle their gratitude.

A/N: So I dunno leave me some feedback, I'll just laugh at your flames but any constructive critism is welcome. This is sort of just supposed to be a fun read, so don't over analyze it.


	3. Arrival

Well, I definitely appreciate the review I got! I've noticed that Wrath fanfics aren't the most loved in the world and I'm not some sort of writing prodigy, so I am actually very glad that my first review on this story is positive! Once again, I would like to remind the readers that I respond well to advice and constructive critism, so send it if you have some. Here goes the story!

This whole entire trip had been for the aim to make like make sense, just as it used to, but Wrath's latest action had only served to make matters even more confusing. He had now saved the lives of humans, human he had never met and had never done him any favors. Envy had always went on and on about how lowly humans were and the other homunculi all wanted to become one so bad, they had risked there lives trying; so, was it crazy to help one?

Granted, he hadn't set out to do that, he just couldn't stand the sound of a baby crying, but the look in that girl's eyes. She looked at him like he was some sort of hero. He wanted to feel like he should have just gotten away from the crying baby, like it was a waste of his time to have disposed of those thugs, but… he couldn't. Instead, for the first time in what seemed a long time, he felt like he had done something worth doing and it felt… good. He hated that feeling because he didn't understand, but, the girl's eyes kept recurring in his head and he couldn't shake it.

Inside, he knew what he was, he knew he wasn't made to save people, so he had no reason to have any emotions about it at all, he should just have been able to walk on. He grew more and more angry, he didn't know how to handle this knew emotion and he didn't want to, he just wanted it to go away.

Wrath had been maintaining the same pace for quite a while and the path was slowly getting closer to its end point. He had figured those kids couldn't possibly be too far from home and while there tracks had faded due to the wind a while back, he was still sure the city was in the direction he was going. He tried to banish his other thoughts by remembering his goal, the soul reason he had gone on this little journey, but, he remembered the whole point of this journey was to get a goal, he didn't even have one yet.

'_Perhaps I should have thought this out better,' _the raven haired kid thought to himself, he let out a frustrated growl-like sound, he could imagine when Ed had told him something just like that, _'You shouldn't be so impulsive,' _ he had said he took Wrath's mommy away from him forever. His brash behavior had cost him more then he would ever have chosen to pay and even still, he had made another impulsive decision and now he was going to some random town, looking for some vague information to build his extended life around.

Wrath looked up, he could now see the tops of buildings on the horizon, along with them, the setting sun. Having spent little time talking to humans or even being around them, he didn't know if his chances of hearing any rumors would be better during the day or at night, but it looked as if he would get the night shift first. The dark haired child walked through the gates, his organic foot met by a stone floor, instead of the semi-grassy one he had been walking on, his metal foot, as usual, just clanked along unfazed by the change in terrain.

A/N: Ok, now to me, it would seem this has all sort of been just a general adventure, but, this city will be Wrath's "base camp" for a while, so the journey part will be replaced by more meaningful stuff and more Wrath style happenings. So a short chapter just to ease into that transition.


	4. Unexpected Ally

So, sorry for the delay. Thanks for sticking around for the fourth chapter.

Wrath looked at the buildings aligned on the sides of the road. He could tell he was more in the housing district then in the public places, where he figured he needed to be, so he kept right along. A few cars passed by next to him, but he didn't pay them any more attention then they would be paying him. Since it was getting dark, he could see some light popping on in the houses near him, though the street itself had very few streetlights.

Wrath had no way to be sure which direction would lead him into the thicker part of town, so he had to at least take a couple more rash decisions. In the corner of his eye, he saw an all too familiar flash of light. "Alchemy," he said as he ran toward it. He didn't know why he should care, there were tons of alchemists all over the world, but it reminded him of Ed, Al, and of his real mommy, Izumi.

The slight clink sound his auto mail made alerted the alchemist to his presence and they looked straight him. It was a younger man, probably in his mid-twenties, but Wrath wasn't the best judge of the ages of humans. For a moment, they just stood there, looking at each other. "What did you make?" Wrath asked, curious.

"Interested in alchemy, eh kid?" the guy asked in return, "I live in this building," he said as he gestured to the one behind him, "I thought I had a leak in my pipes, so I fixed it." Wrath walked closer and touched the transmutation circle. It was simple enough, but Wrath had never needed them, so he didn't know what any of the symbols inside meant. "Want me to give you a lesson, I don't have anything else planned for the day?" the man asked.

"No, I can't do it," obviously he couldn't explain to a complete stranger that he was soulless and it was impossible. He tried to keep a level expression, though inside, it hurt him. It was the most painful reminder that he wasn't human anymore and he didn't even have Ed's limbs to give him any hope that he might be one one day.

"Oh, you think because of your arm, right? I'm pretty sure that auto mail works just as well as a regular arm," the guy looked at him for a second, "Not it? Well, I guess it's just something you have to be born with."

'_Yeah and I wasn't even born'_ Wrath thought.

"You know, this is a pretty small town and I've never seen you before, is your family just visiting?"

"No, I'm alone," Wrath said.

"Really? What are you, like seven, eight?"

"Something like that," Wrath answered. He wasn't sure why he hadn't already left. It just felt like he was safer around an alchemist and this guy in particular, he seemed so calm.

"Well, this building, it's a school house, it has a couple extra rooms if you wanted to stay in one while you're here," he offered, "and if you want, I could show you some more alchemy. My name's Ron by the way, the children usually call me Mr. Porter though." Wrath was caught off guard. He hadn't expected anything like this to happen. He tried to think things through this time. There was no reason not to accept the offer, he needed somewhere to stay and even if this guy was crazy, it wasn't like he had any chance of killing him, alchemy or not.

"Ok," he said simply. The man started walking towards the front and Wrath followed him. Ron opened the main door and showed him to one of the side rooms. It was simple enough and the man pulled on something on the wall, which proved to be a roll-away bed.

"Here you go, just come and go all you want, my office is down the hall, so if you need me, that's where I'll be," with that, the man left, leaving a still stunned Wrath behind.

A/N: I don't know, I hope this all doesn't seem too random, I am going somewhere with this. I think the story might end on 6 or 7, just for everyone's general info.


End file.
